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First Contact
This entry is about the 'TNG' episode. For the 'TNG' feature film with a similar title, please see 'Star Trek First Contact'' ' |image= |series= |production=40274-189 |producer(s)= |story=Marc Scott Zicree |script=Dennis Russell Bailey, David Bischoff, Joe Menosky, Ronald D. Moore and Michael Piller |director=Cliff Bole |imdbref=tt0708715 |guests=George Coe as '''Avel Durken', Carolyn Seymour as Mirasta Yale, George Hearn as Berel, Michael Ensign as Krola, Steven Anderson as Nilrem, Sachi Parker as Tava and Bebe Neuwirth as Lanel |previous_production=Clues |next_production=Galaxy's Child |episode=TNG S04E15 |airdate=18 February 1991 |previous_release=Clues |next_release=Galaxy's Child |story_date(s)=Unknown |previous_story=Clues |next_story=Galaxy's Child }} Summary The humanoid race of Malcor III is preparing to develop warp drive technology. Science Minister Mirasta Yale, lead researcher on their warp experiments, is suddenly visited by Picard and Deanna Troi. They calm her and explain that they come in peace. It is normal Federation policy to make first contact with a world when it reaches this level of technology. However, they have had to move ahead of schedule because Riker, disguised as a Malcorian, has gone missing. After touring the USS Enterprise, Mirasta agrees to help and arranges a private meeting with Chancellor Durken. After the meeting, Picard returns with Durken to the Enterprise and explains the benefits of a relationship with the Federation. Durken expresses some concerns, most notably with the Federation's unwillingness to share their technology, as well as how the their arrival will change his society. Picard assures him that how contact proceeds will be up to him, and if asked to leave, the Federation will do so. Meanwhile, Riker has been detained by security forces in a hospital, where he is barely conscious following an accident. Differences in Riker's physiology make the hospital administrator believe that he is an extraterrestrial. Riker is aided in his escape by a nurse who expresses her wish to "make love with an alien". Riker accepts her offer, but the escape attempt fails: he is spotted, and the guards catch and beat him, worsening his condition. Riker's presence at the hospital is reported to Security Minister Krola, who accuses Durken of hiding the truth about the "alien" presence. The Chancellor expresses his concerns to Picard about the Federation's covert intrusions, but accepts Picard's explanation of why the Federation does this. Krola, fearing a hostile invasion by the Federation, endangers Riker's health by reviving him prematurely so he may be interrogated. He tries to frame Riker as a murderer by shooting himself with Riker's phaser. Meanwhile, Durken is made aware that Riker is in danger of dying and tells Picard where he is. The Enterprise crew bring both Riker and Krola back to the ship. They are able to save Riker's life, and discover that his phaser was only set to stun, so Krola was in no real danger. After Krola is returned to the planet, Durken regretfully tells Picard that he feels Malcor is not ready for first contact. He fears his people are not mature enough to handle the startling announcement that they are not alone in the universe. He requests that the Enterprise leave the planet, in hopes that they may be able to return at a later time. He agrees to delay Malcor's development of warp drive technology until its people are ready. With her project cancelled, she asks Picard if she can join his crew, and Picard agrees. Errors and Explanations Internet Movie Database Plot Holes # Picard made first contact with Mirasta so she would help him locate and rescue Riker. Picard could have given Mirasta a combadge/tracker device that she could have activated as soon as she found Riker at the medical facility. How would she be able to explain how she acquired an obviiously alien device if it was found by Krola or a member of his staff? # Krola confronted Riker by giving a demonstration of the phaser. Being a high-energy weapon that was presumably fired several times off-screen to deem it a "lethal weapon", the Enterprise could have tracked the energy signatures to determine Riker's location, even if it was in the wrong setting. The Enterprise crew had no way of knowing for certain that the phaser was being fired at Riker's location. Plot Oversights # Dr. Crusher describing Krola as Marconian instead of Malcorian. Her pronounciation may be a little off, possibly due to the urgency of the situation. Equipment Oddities # Riker not being implanted with a subcutaneous transponder. Too risky – they could be detected on a medical or security scan. Nit Central # Aaron Dotter on Thursday, November 18, 1999 - 4:52 pm: Why didn't they just scan for human lifesigns to find Riker? Haven't they done that before? There was a risk that any active scans would have been detected. # Aaron Dotter on Thursday, March 08, 2001 - 9:48 pm: Picard didn't seem too worried about the Enterprise being detected from the planet's surface. I would think that the ship is so big it could be seen with the naked eye. Only if you had exceptional eyesight! # LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, July 03, 2001 - 2:41 am: When Krola orders the head of the Sikla medical facility to revive Riker using drugs that might kill him, the doctor refuses because he has sworn an oath to "do no harm," the exact phrasing of the Hippocratic Oath. The refusal to harm a patient must be integral to the psyche of any doctor. # By the time Riker wakes up and speaks with the Malcorian doctor in Act 1, he no longer has his comm badge. So how does he communicate with the Malcorians? Either their language is similar to standard English, or he studied their language from their transmissions. Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation